The Meteor Man

Following an encounter with a mysterious meteorite, a Washington D.C. school teacher (Robert Townsend) discovers that he has developed super powers and subsequently uses them to become a caped crusader against the forces of evil in his own inner-city community. Although the ambitious, imaginative script is loaded with misfired comedic gags, it does produce several genuinely amusing sequences--in particular, the climactic showdown between Meteor Man and his golden-haired drug lord nemesis. Biggest plus: the extremely talented (but frustratingly underused) supporting cast that reads like a Who's Who list of black television and movie greats. It includes: Bill Cosby ("The Cosby Show" and "Ghost Dad"), James Earl Jones ("The Great White Hope" and "Roots: The Next Generation"), Marla Gibbs ("The Jeffersons" and "227"), and Robert Guillaume ("Benson" and "Lean On Me").

Also, it's just plain refreshing to see a 1990's larger-than-life black superhero/role model in a family-oriented film.

I think the previous commentor missed the point of the movie. This movie is intended to be silly fun, not a serious superhero movie. Granted, Townsend's comedy is not always ROFLMBAO hilarious, but the movie has a good message about coming together to fight evil and the showdown at the end, where both antagonists use the powers gained from various books to fight each other, almost makes the movie worth the price of admission. Its a "I've got nothing better to do and some time to kill" matinee movie, but still worth watching once.

Well, I'd be lying if I said that this could easily rival Spiderman or the Batman movies. Still, it was more appealing to me for it's moral value. I first bought the VHS when my son was about 2 years old and it immediately became his favorite. My wife and I are avid supporters of Robert Townsend and have been since he used credit cards to finance his first movie, "Hollywood Shuffle". True, he needs to take advantage of the talents and knowledge of technical advisors to make the films more believable, but his movies are still fun.

Meteor Man provides a hero with an Urban Contemporary feel. I always felt that, if there were superheroes, they wouldn't provide the same scenarios as depicted in the comics. Meteor Man is realistic hero with real problems: Car broken into, bad neighborhood, local drug-dealing gangs using children for distribution, etc. The scope of his mission stayed pretty much within the community.

What I found to be truly entertaining, outside of James Earl Jones' "young forever" performance, was how the neighborhood responded to his newly discovered powers. It wasn't long before they had a full agenda lined up for him, without his input, of course. It was hilarious to hear them offer to lend him out to other communities where their extended families lived.

Yes, the plot was weak, the movie was predictable, there was bad acting and continuity was rotten, but it ranks #1 with my kids. Robert Townsend works to bring movies "home" so to speak. I doubt he'll ever truly be recognized as the talented actor/producer/director he truly is, but there are and will always be, those that love him for his efforts.

One point to ponder about the film, which I find amusing: Throughout the entire battle with Simon, no one bothered to call the police???? Also, what mother and father do you know that will watch their son fight from a window? My mother would have been right there, scrapping by my side, toe-to-toe. Dad would be loading his pistol. lol

Rent it and check it out. It's worth seeing at least once and good for those of you that are fans of Sinbad, Luther Vandross, Bill Cosby, Big Daddy Kane, etc. Great job with the cameos Robert!

Like so many underated films, I stumbled across this one on television and was most surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The concept of a black superhero is obviously intriguing but what made this one stand out for me was it's strong heart of community justice and pride.

Unlike so many SuperHero films, the theme here was for the community to stop relying on someone else to solve their problems and to stop turning a blind (and scared) eye to the violence and crime that surrounded them until it knocked on their own door.

What was also so refreshing was that the film managed to convey this is a light comedy format, which was never preachy, over the top or too slap stick. Honours to the writer/director for such restraint not only in the telling of the drama but also in the refinement of the comedy which resisted over wrought juvenile comedy tactics like fart and sex jokes (a true breath of fresh air considering the bogmire of "naughty" comedy we have had to wade through this season.)

The only critiscism is that the final confrontation is a little too overplayed, but the final few scenes help to let the audience overlook this with a realistic and enjoyable ending.

Special mention for James Earl Jones in his rather off beat role as a "young" rap dude, which he plays with true humour and as the film progresses, beautiful pathos.

This film is worth seeing. For social commentary or just for a laugh - it delivers.

This is an almost all-black cast featuring many prominent black actors and singers. The most famous one, Bill Cosby, has several scenes but no lines of dialog! What makes the film appealing is its innocence and charm. There is hardly any profanity, there is a good-hearted likable hero ("Jefferson Reed" ) Robert Townsend) and a nice story of good folks trying to get rid of destructive violent neighborhood gangs.

It's hokey; it's corny, it's sometimes stupid but there are some genuinely unique and funny scenes in this film as when "Meteor Man" talks to his dog or when he does some amazing feats to save his friends.

A fun, lightweight film that - yes, the whole family can enjoy. It's a sad comment that it got so few reviews. Apparently, most people here would rather watch evil, nasty characters. I think it's refreshing to see some nice people and good role- models exhibited for a change.